Movie
Title Screens - Classic Film Noir (The 1940s and 1950s): Title
screens are the initial titles, usually projected at the
beginning of a film, and following the logos of the film
studio. They are often an ignored aspect of films, although
they reflect the time period or era of the film, the mood
or design of the film, and much more.

Beginning in the 1940s, the look and themes
of many American crime and detective films were dark and
downbeat, reflecting the insecurities and tensions of the
time period. Classic film noir developed during and after
World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of
anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion. It was a style of black
and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s,
became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden
Age" period until about 1960. See
also: Genre:
Film Noir, and Classic
Femme Fatales of Film Noir.

A wide range of noir films - many of which
are included in this compilation - counter-balanced the optimism
of Hollywood's musicals and comedies. Fear, mistrust, bleakness,
loss of innocence, despair and paranoia were readily evident
in noir, reflecting the 'chilly' Cold War period when the
threat of nuclear annihilation was ever-present. The criminal,
violent, misogynistic, hard-boiled, or greedy perspectives
of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphoric symptom of
society's evils, with a strong undercurrent of moral conflict,
purposelessness and sense of injustice. There were rarely
happy or optimistic endings in noirs.